By Kimberly Gatto Portraits by Melissa Fuller As a young boy, David Oliynyk thought of himself first and foremost as a hockey player. Then he began tagging along to his sister’s riding lessons and became smitten with horses. Decades later, David has channeled his love of horses into a career as a sought-after “A” circuit

By Laura Scaletti Portraits by Melissa Fuller From her first pony to a 2024 Paris Olympics dressage horse and numerous horses in between, amateur rider Alice Tarjan has found her niche discovering young prospects via video and developing them herself. “Early on, I realized that it was foolish to spend money on trained horses. For

By Helen Townes Portraits by Sara Farrell The equestrian story of four-star eventer Alexa Ehlers Thompson starts with a little hand-me-down Shetland pony named Panda, brought home in the back of her dad’s pickup truck. Panda was intended for her 10-year-old older sister, Kelsey, but Alexa was smitten and had other ideas.   “I was

By Shya Beth Eve Troncone paints many subjects, but there is something about her energetic polo paintings that sets them apart from the rest of the field. Her fast-paced brush strokes parallel the action-packed game of polo, illustrating the emotions and split-second maneuvers of the horse-and-rider team. Living from November to May in Wellington, Florida,

By Britney Grover Scott Fitton grew up as one of six children in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where his equestrian career began thanks to a palomino pony called Trigger who lived at the end of the street. “We used to climb on his back in the paddock—he usually bucked everyone off,” Scott remembered. “I wanted to

By Laura Scaletti Portraits by Jordan Koepke Barbara Chappell wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Instead, she was handed a pitchfork as soon as she was old enough to help on her family’s Holly Hill Farm. Barbara worked alongside her parents, with her seven siblings, to raise their dairy and beef cattle

By Sarah Welk Baynum Portraits by Lindsay McCall If you watch Sarah Bachor riding in the competitive hunter or equitation classes she does today, you’d never guess this caliber of showing is relatively new to her. Though Sarah started riding around the age of 4, thanks to her mother, who also rode, the riding, training,